1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manual control system for a terminal device, such as a television, lighting fixture, thermostat or laptop. More particularly, the present invention relates to a control system on an exterior mounting surface independent from the terminal device to be controlled. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a system to detect gestures on a mounting surface and to generate commands for the terminal device based on detected gestures.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
With the development of electronic technology, output devices or terminal devices are used daily and are increasingly integrated with interactive features in order to enhance convenience and functionality. Users now can use a control system or controller, such as a remote control device, to adjust lights, curtains, a thermostat etc. Existing control systems include distinct remote control devices dedicated to and associated with the particular output or terminal device to be controlled. Remote control devices can also be associated with more than one terminal device, such as a master controller for electronics and a touchscreen computer tablet made integral with furniture or walls to control lighting and room temperature. Any computer with an interface (keyboard, mouse, touch pad or touchscreen) can be a remote control device for multiple terminal devices with smart technology. Mobile phones are also known to be enabled for controlling terminal devices, such as home security cameras and door locks. Another existing control system involves voice recognition technology.
Existing control systems have limitations. Each output or terminal device typically is associated with a respective remote control device, such as a controller for the cable box, a controller for the DVD player, and a controller for the sound mixer. An excessive number of controllers is needed in order to remotely control multiple devices. Furthermore, an individual controller is often misplaced or left in locations that are not readily accessible to the user. The user must search for a controller or change locations to access the controller. Additionally, voice recognition technology often requires cumbersome training sessions to calibrate for pronunciations and accents of each particular user. Furthermore, voice recognition technology is often impaired by background noise resulting in difficulties for that control system to recognize verbal commands. Additionally, the sound produced by voice commands may be obtrusive in many environments such as in a room where others are sleeping, or in a room while watching a movie.
For remote control devices associated with multiple terminal devices, for example, computer tablets with a touchscreen and computers with touchpads, remote control devices can be built into or integrated into furniture. Smart tables have been built with touchscreens that are able to receive touch-based gestures. In the case of integrating these touchscreen or touch pads into surfaces of structures such as furniture, the cost of the structure is significantly increased due to design modifications required to accommodate the remote control device, and the cost of the components and hardware. Furthermore, aesthetics are often affected. Appearances are altered when furniture, walls and surroundings are filled with touchscreens, touchpads, and other conspicuous devices. Integration of such hardware into furniture also requires the manufacturer to modify existing designs such that the hardware can be accommodated into the structure.
Prior art manual control systems range from buttons on a television remote controller to a touchscreen of a mobile phone. Simple gestures of pressing dedicated buttons and complex gestures of finger motions on a touchscreen are both used to control terminal devices. Various patents and publications are available in the field of these manual control systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,788,978, issued to Stedman et al on Jul. 22, 2014, teaches a gesture sensitive interface for a computer. The “pinch zoom” functionality is the subject matter, so that the detection of first and second interaction points, and the relative motion between the points are detected by sensors. A variety of sensors are disclosed to define the field, including a touch screen, camera, motion sensor, and proximity sensors.
World Intellectual Property Organization Publication No. WO2013165348, published for Bess on Nov. 7, 2013, describes a system with at least three accelerometers disposed in different locations of an area with a surface to capture respective vibration data corresponding to a command tapped onto the surface by a user. A processing system receives the vibration data from each accelerometer, identifying the command and a location of the user from the vibration data. A control signal based on the command and the location is generated.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20140225824, published for Shpunt et al on Aug. 14, 2014, discloses flexible room controls. A control apparatus includes a projector for directing first light toward a scene that includes a hand of a user in proximity to a wall of a room and to receive the first light that is reflected from the scene, and to direct second light toward the wall so as to project an image of a control device onto the wall. A processor detects hand motions within the projected field.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20120249416, published for Maciocci et al on Oct. 4, 2012, describes another projection system with gesture identification. The projector is a unit worn on the body of the user to project onto surfaces, such as walls and tables. Spatial data is detected by a sensor array. Additional rendering operations may include tracking movements of the recognized body parts, applying a detection algorithm to the tracked movements to detect a predetermined gesture, applying a command corresponding to the detected predetermined gesture, and updating the projected images in response to the applied command.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20100019922, published for Van Loenen on Jan. 28, 2010, is the known prior art for an interactive surface by tapping. Sound detection is filtered and interpreted either in the system to be controlled or else in the sensors themselves. The direction of movement of a hand stroking the surface can be interpreted as a command to increase or decrease a parameter, such as the sound volume level of a television, for example. Determination of the position of the user's hand is unnecessary.
For a prior art control system, including a set of simple buttons or a complex touchpad, there is a discrete boundary or differentiation between the touch-sensitive region and non-touch regions on a surface of a remote control device. A touch-sensitive region can be bound by the button, the keypad, or the outer edge of a touchpad that is integrated in the surface. Therefore, a command is often processed the moment a contact interaction occurs between a person's hand and the button or touchpad of an activated terminal device. For the prior art light detection devices, there is a discrete boundary of visible light as the touch-sensitive region. Only gestures within the field of projected light and only gestures made, when the projected light is activated, are processed within the control system for commands of the terminal output.
There is a need to remove the boundary between the touch-sensitive region and non-touch regions so that an entire surface can be an interactive zone. For individuals with disabilities, the touch-sensitive region may not be accessible, such as a switch or a touchscreen mounted too high. Sufficient motor control to interact properly with a touchscreen may not be possible for individuals with neuro-muscular problems or other physical constraints. Elderly individuals may also need assistance to adequately view buttons and touchscreens, when controlling their terminal devices. There is a need to improve the manual control systems for all types of users with wide ranges of physical abilities.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for controlling a terminal device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a manual system to control a terminal device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an interactive control system based on gestures.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive control system based on physical impact on a surface independent from the terminal device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device by contact interactions through an associated mounting surface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device with an interactive zone coordinated or aligned with an exterior surface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the interactive control system to detect a gesture as a contact interaction within an interactive zone set by a sensor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device to detect contact interactions associated with a mounting surface as data signals.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device to determine a data pattern based on the data signals.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device to match a detected data pattern with a gesture profile associated with a command of a terminal device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of the system for controlling a terminal device by converting a contact interaction detected through a sensor into a command associated with a gesture profile matched to a detected data pattern.
These and other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification.